Shelter

ABSTRACT

A shelter has two hinge assemblies on opposite sides and a series of hoops radiating from the hinge assemblies to support a canopy. The shelter may be opened from either end. Each hinge assembly includes two arms that support respective halves of the support hoops. The arms pivot about a lateral pivot axis so that when the shelter is opened, one of the arms will pivot upwardly so that the hoops carried by it will lie flat on top of the hoops attached to the other hinge arm.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to shelters and more particularly tolightweight, multipurpose shelters and hardware for use in the shelters.

BACKGROUND

Lightweight shelters have been constructed in the past using sets ofhoops radiating from a central position on each side of the shelter tosupport a canopy. The hoops may be mounted on hinges at the centre sothat the shelter may be opened by lifting one end. One difficulty with ashelter of this sort is the base on which the hoops are mounted. Whileit has been proposed to use base hinges so that the hoops can pivot foropening and closing the shelter, the prior art hinges provide onlylimited movement because of interference of the hoops with one another.In some cases, this can be dealt with by making the hoops of differentsizes to nest together, but this requires several different sizes ofhoops. Manufacturing costs and complexity of assembly are consequentlyinceased.

The present invention proposes a hinge construction and a shelter thatmitigate these problems.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided ahinge for connecting a plurality of members for movement betweenextended condition with the members radiating at spaced positions alongan arc of substantially 180°, and a collapsed condition with the membersstacked adjacent the hinge, said hinge comprising:

a base;

two hinge arms;

arm pivot means mounting each of the hinge arms on the base for pivotalmovement about a lateral hinge arm axis;

means for pivotally mounting the members on the hinge arms at spacedlocations therealong, for pivotal movement of the members aboutrespective lateral member axes with respect to the associated hingearms.

The hinge arms may be pivoted so that the arms project in oppositedirections from the arm pivot in the collapsed condition. Consequentlythe members will be connected to the arms in a spaced row so that theymay lie flat on one another.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a shelterhaving two laterally spaced sides and two longitudinally spaced ends,the shelter comprising two laterally spaced apart hinge assemblies; aplurality of laterally extending hoops coupled to the hinge assembliesfor movement between an extended condition of the shelter with the hoopsradiating from the hinge assemblies at positions spaced angularlythrough an arc of approximately 180° about the hinge assemblies, and acollapsed condition with the hoops stacked to one end of the hingeassemblies, and a canopy connected to the hoops to be supported therebyin the extended condition of the shelter, wherein each hinge assemblycomprises:

a base;

first and second hinge arms, each mounted on the base for pivotalmovement about a lateral arm axis, each hinge arm being pivotablebetween a closed position extending downwardly from the lateral arm axisand an open position projecting upwardly from the lateral arm axis, eachhoop being pivotally mounted on a respective hinge arm of each hingeassembly for pivotal movement about a respective lateral hoop axis.

A shelter constructed this way may opened fully from either end. It maybe constructed as a dome with curved hoops, or in a more rectangularshape with hoops having distinct side and top sections. The shelters maybe used in many ways, for example as greenhouses; garages forautomobiles, trucks, snowmobiles or all terrain vehicles; constructionshelters; gazebos; tents; garden shelters; ice fishing huts; and huntingblinds.

The nature of the canopy will vary according to use. It may be aweatherproof tarpaulin material, a transparent film or screening. Wheredesired, windows or other openings may be provided in the canopy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate exemplary embodiments ofthe present invention:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a dome shaped shelter in a closedcondition;

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the shelter of FIG. 1 in an opencondition;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a hinge assembly;

FIG. 4 is a top view of the hinge assembly;

FIG. 5 is an end view of the hinge assembly;

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the hinge assembly base; and

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of an alternative embodiment of the shelter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the accompanying drawings, and especially to FIGS. 1 and 2,there is illustrated a shelter 10 of an overall dome-shape. The shelterhas two hinge assemblies 12, one on either side of the shelter and aseries of hoops 14 that have their opposite ends connected to therespective hinge assemblies and that radiate from the hinge assembliesat positions spaced through an arc of 180° in the extended or closedcondition of FIG. 1. The hoops support a flexible canopy 16. The shelter10 is shown in its open condition in FIG. 2, where one end of theshelter has been lifted up and pivoted over to the opposite end, and allof the hoops are stacked one on top of the other with the canopymaterial gathered much in the nature of an accordion fold.

The configuration of the hinge that permits this type of movement isillustrated most particularly in FIGS. 3 through 6. The hinge has ahinge base 18 with a bottom support surface 20. The base is generallychannel shaped with two side flanges 22 that taper upwardly to thecentre. Between the side flanges, and centred between the ends of thebase is a semi cylindrical support core 24.

The hinge base carries two hinge arms 26 and 28. These are located inthe centre of the base, between the side flanges 22. Each arm is in theshape of a circular arc with an inner section 30 and an outer section 32of reduced thickness. The upper end 34 of the hinge arm is semi-circularin shape. Also at the upper end, each arm has a notch 36 on one side sothat the two arms may be placed end to end with their notched endsinterfitting as shown most particularly in FIG. 4. The arms are mountedon the base by a transverse pivot pin 38 extending through the armswhere they overlap. In the extended condition of the shelter, the armsform a semi-circular arc, as shown in FIG. 3. A centre one of the hoops14 has its end pivotally mounted on the pin 38, in the centre of thebase. A spacer 39 is positioned between the hoop and the inside of theadjacent side flange 22. The arrangement is such that each arm and thehoop can pivot independently of the other components.

One half of the remaining hoops is pivotally mounted on each of thehinge arms 26 at spaced positions along the arm. They are held in placeby pivot pins 40 extending through the hoops near their ends.

At each end of the hinge base are two aligned retainer bores 42 throughthe side flanges 22. These are positioned above the extended positionsof the end most hoops 14, so that when a retainer pin 44 is insertedthrough the bores 42, the hoop will be retained in its extendedposition. Each retainer pin 44 is attached to the base with a tether 46.

When opening the shelter, it is a simple matter to raise one of the endmost hoops 14. This will unbalance the canopy and hoop assembly, causingit to fall downwardly toward the opposite end, so that very little forceis required to initiate this opening action. Once the opening hascarried through to a sufficient extent, the imbalance towards theopening side may become sufficient to continue opening the shelterwithout assistance.

As the shelter opens, those hoops 14 on the closed end of the shelterwill pivot downwardly about their pivot pins 40 to lie on one another asshown most particularly in FIG. 2. As the remaining hoops on the otherside of the shelter reach a position where they will come intoengagement with the centre hoop, the hinge arm on which they are mountedwill pivot upwardly as shown in FIG. 2 until the two hinge arms aregenerally aligned with the hoop pivots spaced along the two arms so thatthere is no interference of one hoop with the other and the hoops willbe stacked.

Another embodiment of the shelter is illustrated in FIG. 7. This shelter48 is more rectangular in its form and is somewhat higher and moreelongate than the dome shelter shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Each hoop 50 ofthe shelter 48 has two straight side sections 52, a straight centresection 54 and two straight corners 56. Apart from this difference inhoop configuration and the consequent difference in the configuration ofthe canopy, the shelter is functionally the same as that illustrated inthe earlier drawings.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed in the foregoing, it is to be understood that otherembodiments are possible within the scope of the invention. For example,various modifications may be made to the exact configuration of thehinge. The hinge arms need not be circular arcs, and in someembodiments, they may be mounted on separate arm axes. The invention isthus to be construed as limited solely by the scope of the dependentclaims.

We claim:
 1. A hinge assembly connecting a plurality of members formovement between an extended condition with the members radiating atspaced positions along an arc of substantially 180° about the hingeassembly and a collapsed condition with the members stacked adjacent thehinge assembly, said hinge assembly comprising:a base; two hinge arms;arm pivot means pivotally mounting each of the hinge arms on the basefor pivotal movement of the hinge arm with respect to the base about alateral hinge arm axis; and means pivotally mounting the members on thehinge arms at spaced locations therealong, for pivotal movement of themembers about respective lateral member axes with respect to theassociated hinge arms.
 2. A hinge according to claim 1 including stopmeans for limiting pivotal movement of the hinge arms.
 3. A hingeaccording to claim 2 wherein the stop means comprise interengaging faceson the hinge arms.
 4. A hinge according to claim 3 wherein the arm pivotmeans comprise means mounting the hinge arms on the base to pivot abouta common lateral arm axis.
 5. A hinge according to any one of claims 1to 4 wherein the base has a support surface, the arm pivot means arespaced from the support surface and in the extended condition each hingearm extends from the arm pivot means towards the support surface.
 6. Ahinge according to claim 5 wherein in the extended condition the hingearms diverge from the arm pivot means towards the support surface.
 7. Ahinge according to claim 5 wherein the hinge arms are arcuate and in theextended condition of the hinge define a substantially semi-circulararc.
 8. A shelter having two laterally spaced sides and twolongitudinally spaced ends, the shelter comprising two laterally spacedapart hinge assemblies; a plurality of laterally extending hoops coupledto the hinge assemblies for movement between an extended condition ofthe shelter with the hoops radiating from the hinge assemblies atpositions spaced angularly through an arc of approximately 180° aboutthe hinge assemblies, and a collapsed condition with the hoops stackedto one end of the hinge assemblies; and a canopy connected to the hoopsto be supported thereby in the extended condition of the shelter,wherein each hinge assembly comprises;a base; first and second hingearms; arm pivot means pivotally mounting each of the hinge arms on thebase for pivotal movement of the hinge arm with respect to the baseabout a lateral arm axis, each hinge arm being pivotable between aclosed condition extending downwardly from the lateral arm axis and anopen position projecting upwardly from the lateral arm axis, each hoopbeing pivotally mounted on a respective hinge arm of each hinge assemblyfor pivotal movement about a respective lateral hoop axis.
 9. A shelteraccording to claim 8 wherein each hinge assembly includes stop means forlimiting pivotal movement of each hinge arm about the lateral arm axisto movement between the open and closed positions.
 10. A shelteraccording to claim 9 wherein the stop means comprise interengaging faceson the hinge arms.
 11. A shelter according to claim 8 wherein the basecomprises a retainer means for selectively retaining an end most one ofthe hoops in the extended position thereof.
 12. A shelter having twolaterally spaced sides and two longitudinally spaced ends, the sheltercomprising two laterally spaced apart hinge assemblies; a plurality oflaterally extending hoops coupled to the hinge assemblies for movementbetween an extended condition of the shelter with the hoops radiatingfrom the hinge assemblies at positions spaced angularly through an arcof approximately 180° about the hinge assemblies, and a collapsedcondition with the hoops stacked to one end of the hinge assemblies; anda canopy connected to the hoops to be supported thereby in the extendedcondition of the shelter, wherein each hinge assembly comprises;a base;first and second hinge arms mounted pivotally on the base to pivot abouta common lateral arm axis, each hinge arm being pivotable between aclosed condition extending downwardly from the lateral arm axis and anopen position projecting upwardly from the lateral arm axis, each hoopbeing pivotally mounted on a respective hinge arm of each hinge assemblyfor pivotal movement about a respective lateral hoop axis.
 13. A shelteraccording to claim 12 wherein in the closed condition of the canopy, thehinge arms extend downwardly and towards the respective ends of theshelter from the lateral arm axis.
 14. A shelter according to claim 13wherein each hinge arms are arcuate, the arms aligning to define asubstantially semi-circular arc in the extended condition of the canopy.